Posted by JHR on March 14, 2003 at 12:48:18:
In Reply to: An AMERICAN Response to "What Makes People HATE the U.S.?" posted by David Adler on March 14, 2003 at 12:19:05:
Dear David,
Thanks so much for your passionate reply to the message posted above. And for unloading both barrels.
Because it IS a love/hate relationship many of us have with our neighbors, towns, families, and
countries. We can recognize both the good Americans are able to do, when we listen to our better
angels, and the ill that transpires when our community, religious, and government leaders fall short or
operate out of anger, revenge, or economic greed rather than with the generosity, calm, and compassion
we so admire.
I do think, however, you overstate the facts when you suggest that no other country on earth would've
reacted differently to the suicide bombings in NYC. In fact, very few countries enjoy the massive budget
surplus (now, of course, exhausted) that we'd built up during the last administration. And very few have
the military architecture, manpower, and bottomless checking account the US seems to have when
dealing with adversaries. Nevertheless, the point is well-taken that revenge, payback, "getting even," or
as CNN called it "America Strikes Back!" is the order of the day in most conflicted regions of the
world-Palestine and the Gaza Strip, to state the obvious.
My only other response to your letter is to suggest that none of us should ignore the writer's references
to patriotism and the current manipulations of same. We see this occurring not only in the thin war
coverage by major American media (as cited in the man's letter), but also in newly enacted national
policies which trample our civil liberties and transfer so much wealth from the US Treasury to select
private business interests who have dedicated themselves to building the Military Industrial Complex
about which we'd been so accurately warned by President Eisenhower. As we have seen in the Middle
East, too many people have a vested financial interest in ensuring that peace never takes hold and the
citizenry, here and abroad, live forever in fear.
In this sense, I think both Einstein (from the letter above from South Africa) and Goering (as quoted in the letter from the "Civics Teacher in Kansas," below) stated concepts worth keeping in mind.
Thank you for your thoughtful response.
--JHR
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